The 20th Regiment of Light Dragoons was a

cavalry regiment Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

History

The regiment was raised as the 20th (Jamaica) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons in 1792; it was deployed to

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

in 1795 during the

Second Maroon War The Second Maroon War of 1795–1796 was an eight-month conflict between the Maroons of Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town), a Maroon settlement later re-named after Governor Edward Trelawny at the end of First Maroon War, located near Trelawny Pa ...

. The regiment saw action at the Battle of Montevideo in February 1807 during the

British invasions of the River Plate The British invasions of the River Plate were two unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of areas in the Spanish colony of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata that were located around the Río de la Plata in South America – in p ...

. The 3rd Squadron was the sole cavalry detachment present in the Alexandria expedition later that year. It also fought at the

Battle of Vimeiro In the Battle of Vimeiro (sometimes shown as "Vimiera" or "Vimeira" in contemporary British texts) on 21 August 1808, the British under General Arthur Wellesley (who later became the Duke of Wellington) defeated the French under Major-Gene ...

in August 1808 during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spai ...

. In 1805 its title was simplified again to the 20th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons; it was disbanded in 1818.

References

Sources

*{{cite book, last=Marley, first=David, title=Wars of the Americas: A chronology of armed conflict in the New World 1492 to 1997, year=1998, publisher=ABC-CLIO, isbn=978-0874368376 Light dragoon regiments of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1792 Military units and formations disestablished in 1818 1792 establishments in Great Britain Cavalry regiments of the British Army